Power cut with eggs in incy

[Ducklady]

My eggs are on day 9 and we have just had a power cut for 1hr 30 mins. We covered the eggs in clean vet bed and covered the incy in blankets. The eggs cooled but were not cold so do you think will have died? I shall candle tomorrow and look for movement.

Has anyone else experienced a power cut with eggs in the incy?

[Geoff Ruck]

i should think they will be fine , you did all the right things with covering it , good luck

[Ducklady]

thanks for the reply Geoff, there is some hope then. How long can they stand a drop in temperature for and how long does it actually take the eggs temperature to drop? I wasn't sure how this compared to mummy chook getting off the eggs for a bit each day.

I put some warm cups and things around the edge to try and stop the temp dropping but the incy temp still dropped but eggs take longer to cool don't they.

[Top Hen]

As Geoff has said you did all the right things ........................they will be fine.

[Henwife]

Don't panic - I had 8 hours off earlier this week & so far the eggs in the hatcher are hatched, the TNNs are hatching, the Fayoumis still show signs of life - the cream legbars aren't due until next week, so watch this space. My Octagons have a polystyrene 'box' cover for winter (thank you Wilt), so that was popped over them to conserve heat & I covered the vents for the hatcher. Never be tempted to open the incubator during a power cut or until it's up to temperature again.
On one occasion I left three fertile brahma eggs out of the incubator all day - I'd been candling a whole lot and these got put with the clears - I put them back & 2 hatched. I candle at 10 days.

[dorinda]

Thet should be alright, but I would put off candling anyway 'till at least 12 days - that is the earlies I ever do it,, I find when you do it earlier, there are sometimes ones we are not sure about anyway - at 12 days you can be fairly sure

[Wilt]

I totally agree with the previous four chickeneers, it does take quite a while for the core of the egg to become critically chilled, and from what actions you have taken, you have done all you can their hatch-ability.

I have always been an advocate (Particularly as i am in an area that gets regular power cuts) as a small generator is probably too expensive, I would say if anyone who is intending to hatch eggs over a number of years ( and some eggs can be quite expensive) One of these cigarette lighter plug in electric inverters, will upgrade your 12 volt car electricity to Bator usable 230-240 volt. The wattage unit you would require will be dependant on the amount incubators and heat lamps you intend to use. It is also dependant on how close you can park your vehicle to where the chickeneering is going on. (Extension leads cause voltage loss as well as the units useing the electricity)

http://www.caravantechnology.com/carava ... FQodB1nyrQ

[Ducklady]

Hi Wilt, that is good advice, thanks. I do have a car in the same garage as the incy and it is rarely used so I could rig up something to this. Its harder to see what is going in the eggs as time passes so how will I know that the embryo hasn't died? As it gets bigger will I still be able to see it moving? At day 6/7 it was really to see what was going on but now its darker with almost half of the egg looking dark. I have seen movement in some but its all just dark.

[Ducklady]

candled a few and can see movement but I find them harder to see now than in the earlier stages. I was worried that all I could see was dark, can't see the blood vessels well now, thought they had died until I saw movement. Half the egg is dark, half is easy to see through the shell but should I be able to see the blood vessels? I only candled a few that were near the thin plastic front so would have cooled quicker then left them alone. I figured that if the ones at the front were still live then the rest should be fine. Is this the wrong thing to presume? How often do you start off with an embryo growing then they die for some reason?

[dorinda]

candled a few and can see movement but I find them harder to see now than in the earlier stages. I was worried that all I could see was dark, can't see the blood vessels well now, thought they had died until I saw movement. Half the egg is dark, half is easy to see through the shell but should I be able to see the blood vessels? I only candled a few that were near the thin plastic front so would have cooled quicker then left them alone. I figured that if the ones at the front were still live then the rest should be fine. Is this the wrong thing to presume? How often do you start off with an embryo growing then they die for some reason?

That's why wilt (tim) said to candle at the last min. we can see all sorts of things that we want to see before, but the proof of the pudding is at 18 days, when we stop turning. I did that last time, and had 100% per cent hatching, and those that were clear would always have been clear if I had candled earlier I might have had some "not sure" and maybe got rid of them - 18 days is a certain (Tim told me so)

[curlytop]

I had a powercut about a month ago not sure how long as was at work.They did hatch but 2 days late I did lose a couple but unsure if down to powercut

I'd give them a bit longer before chucking though

[Ducklady]

Perhaps I haven't expalined properly, will try again.

In the early stages it was easy to see the embryo and blood vessels but now its just dark. I was worried it had died as I couldn't see blood vessels only half a dark egg. I couldn't see blood vessels so I was looking for the blood ring which would indicate the embryo had died but then I saw movement. All I can see now is half a dark egg, very hard to see blood vessels or embryo.

Does anyone know of a candleing site on the web that will show me what I should look for at 12 days?

What am I supposed to be looking for at day 12?

[Chris Kurzfeld]

We had a power cut for over 2 hours with my last hatch and they hatched on time with no problems at all. As for seeing inside the egg when candling - like you i find it more difficult as the embryo grows, especially as my last hatch (yesterday) was Marans, but if I can't see properly then I go on the size of the air sac - if that looks right for the days and the "dark" shapes have grown then I would wait and see.

[Wilt]

Rhode runner put one of these up, and it was the best I have seen, but I can't find it. It was much better than any of these! Allaaaaaaan!!!!the contents of the egg will get darker and darker as the chick develops and gains mass, If the contents freely swoosh about in the eggs it will be addled.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjec ... /egg.shtml

http://www.ogpbb.com/chicken-embryo-dev ... index.html

http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductio ... mbryo.html

[Ducklady]

Thanks Wilt, I've had a look at these. I will not throw any out, will just wait and see what happens. I know 14 out of 15 sussex seemed fertile, have broken the clear open and binned it. It was clear, all runny with nothing at all in it. I can't see through the maran eggs so have no idea on how they are doing.

Hope some hatch after all that has happened. I put them in Tuesday 5th in the evening so presume they will hatch around 26th/27th next week.